By Bob Allen A tool designed to help pastors deal with trauma following the 2010 Haiti earthquakes is translating well into other cultures, said a Mercer University professor who used the storytelling-based exercise April 26 with clergy in the Newtown,…
Baylor campus moved by memorial
By Daniel Wallace Some students and faculty at Baylor University said they felt the pain of the tragedy in West – both when it happened and on Thursday when a memorial for its victims was held on their campus. ABPnews…
What now for West, Texas?
By Marv Knox and Jeff Brumley The outpouring of sympathy and solidarity for West, Texas, has been immense since a fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 – including 12 first-responders – on April 17. Thursday’s memorial in nearby Waco underscored that by…
Obama, Bible play big in West memorial
By Marv Knox and Jeff Brumley Today’s memorial service for 12 firefighters killed in West, Texas, on April 17 was laced with prayer, scripture and the theme that tragedy brings people and communities together. Even President Obama came bearing a…
West, Texas, church gathers for worship
By John Hall and Jeff Brumley Its church building still in lockdown four days after a fertilizer plant explosion killed 14 people and injured 200 others, members of First Baptist Church in West, Texas, gathered in a makeshift altar in…
Baptists respond to blast with aid, prayer
By Jeff Brumley Local, regional and state church groups responded April 18 to the deadly fertilizer explosion that leveled portions of West, Texas, on Wednesday night. Baptist pastors and secretaries in congregations dotting the map around the central Texas city…
Storms prompt ‘compassion adrenaline’
By Jeff Brumley It’s called “compassion adrenaline” when someone feels a nearly overwhelming urge to help others in need, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Tommy Deal felt a wave of it coming his way Thursday night. As huge, violent storms…
Humanitarian aid as a weapon of war
By Rupen Das The two-year-old conflict in Syria is now being played out in three different but interconnected arenas. There is the military conflict that, at the moment from all indications, is deadlocked. There is the media battle, which the…
Baptists promote disaster preparedness
By Bob Allen An Australian Baptist organization long committed to disaster relief and recovery is shifting focus to prepare communities for the impact of disasters before they happen. Baptist World Aid Australia announced a “Disaster Plus” campaign March 25 to…